Broadway Guides

The Longest-Running Broadway Shows of All Time

By Thea LaneSeptember 30, 2026Updated September 30, 20269 min read

Table of Contents~9 min left

Short Answer

The Phantom of the Opera is the longest-running Broadway show of all time, with 13,981 performances between January 26, 1988, and its closing night on April 16, 2023. Among shows still running, Chicago holds the record, with 11,776 performances since November 14, 1996. Both totals are current as of September 27, 2026, per Playbill's official count.

The Last Night at the Majestic

On April 16, 2023, The Phantom of the Opera played its final performance at the Majestic Theatre, the only Broadway house it had ever called home. It closed with 13,981 performances behind it and more than $1 billion in Broadway grosses in the record books.

Phantom's record only tells half the story, though. It's a closed show, frozen at its final tally, and nothing will ever add to that 13,981. A few blocks away, Chicago adds performances every week, and its own number keeps climbing with no closing date in sight. One is the biggest Broadway run of all time. The other is the longest run still happening. Both numbers matter for different reasons, and this list covers both, along with the eighteen shows behind them and the ones still racing to move up.

How These Rankings Work

Playbill's official longest-running list excludes preview performances entirely, so the count starts on opening night. That matters for a show like Phantom, which began previews on January 9, 1988, more than two weeks before its January 26 opening; none of those early performances count toward its 13,981. Revivals are tracked separately from original productions: Chicago's 1996 revival sits at #2 with 11,776 performances, while the 1975 original closed after just 936, its own run at the 46th Street Theatre from June 3, 1975, to August 27, 1977.

Running shows add roughly eight performances a week, so any number here is already a little out of date by the time you read it. Every total below is as of September 27, 2026. For more on how Broadway defines the difference, see our guide to what makes a show a Broadway revival.

The Top 10 Longest-Running Broadway Shows

These ten shows account for the largest performance counts in Broadway history. Four of them, Chicago, The Lion King, Wicked, and The Book of Mormon, are still adding to their totals every week, and one, Oh! Calcutta!, is a revue rather than a musical or a play.

1. The Phantom of the Opera — 13,981 performances

Every one of those performances, from January 26, 1988, to April 16, 2023, happened at the Majestic Theatre, the only home the show ever had on Broadway. Phantom crossed $1 billion in Broadway grosses over its run and played its 10,000th performance on February 11, 2012. No other show has reached 13,000. Our guide to the Phantom of the Opera book versus the musical covers what changes between the two.

2. Chicago (1996 revival) — 11,776 performances

The revival began as a City Center Encores! concert in May 1996, a concert staging directed by Walter Bobbie with choreography by Ann Reinking. It opened on Broadway that November and moved from the Richard Rodgers Theatre to the Ambassador Theatre on January 29, 2003, where it still plays. The production won six Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical, more than any other revival had won up to that point. Chicago passed Cats to become Broadway's second-longest-running show on November 23, 2014, at its 7,486th performance.

3. The Lion King — 11,402 performances

Julie Taymor's staging has run since November 13, 1997. New York Theatre Guide calls it the highest-grossing Broadway show in history.

4. Wicked — 8,939 performances

Idina Menzel won the Tony for Best Actress in the original production, one of three Tony Awards Wicked won in 2004, the season after it opened on October 30, 2003. It was later adapted into an Oscar-winning film. For the novel that inspired the musical, and its sequels and prequels, see Wicked Books in Order: Gregory Maguire's Oz Novels, Including Galinda.

5. Cats — 7,485 performances

From October 7, 1982, to September 10, 2000, Cats played the Winter Garden Theatre and won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It held Broadway's long-run record before Phantom eventually passed it, and three shows on this list, Chicago, The Lion King, and Wicked, have since passed its total as well.

6. Les Misérables — 6,680 performances

Sung almost entirely without spoken dialogue, Les Misérables ran from March 12, 1987, to May 18, 2003, in a category of musical explained further in our guide to what makes a musical sung-through. Les Misérables, along with #1 Phantom of the Opera and #4 Wicked, all started as books; see our guide to Broadway musicals based on books for how each one changed on the way to the stage.

7. A Chorus Line — 6,137 performances

A Chorus Line ran from July 25, 1975, to April 28, 1990, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, one of the few musicals ever to take that prize.

8. Oh! Calcutta! (1976 revival) — 5,959 performances

An adult revue built around nudity, Oh! Calcutta! ran from September 24, 1976, to August 6, 1989, and remains the longest-running revue in Broadway history. New York Theatre Guide credits it as the first show whose original run and its revival both crossed 1,000 performances.

9. The Book of Mormon — 5,763 performances

On September 25, 2026, fifteen years after it opened on March 24, 2011, The Book of Mormon played its 5,759th performance and passed the original Mamma Mia! run to become Broadway's ninth-longest-running show, the longest run in the Eugene O'Neill Theatre's 100-year history. Original cast members Nikki M. James and Rory O'Malley return for a 12-week engagement starting October 27, 2026.

10. Mamma Mia! — 5,758 performances

Broadway's longest-running jukebox musical ran from October 18, 2001, to September 12, 2015, a format explained further in our guide to what counts as a jukebox musical.

11 Through 20

Beauty and the Beast — 5,461 performances (1994–2007). Disney's first Broadway production.
Rent — 5,123 performances (1996–2008). Won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Jersey Boys — 4,642 performances (2005–2017). After closing on Broadway, it ran Off-Broadway for about four and a half more years.
Aladdin — 4,565 performances. Still running since March 20, 2014.
Miss Saigon — 4,092 performances (1991–2001). Launched Lea Salonga's career.
Hamilton — 4,005 performances. Still running since August 6, 2015.
42nd Street — 3,486 performances (1980–1989).
Grease — 3,388 performances (1972–1980).
Fiddler on the Roof — 3,242 performances (1964–1972).
Life with Father — 3,224 performances (1939–1947). Broadway's longest-running non-musical play.

The Long Runs Still Going

Six shows from the top 20 are still running as of September 27, 2026: Chicago, The Lion King, Wicked, The Book of Mormon, Aladdin, and Hamilton. Further down the list, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child sits at #24 with 2,772 performances, the highest-ranked play currently open, and Hadestown holds #31 with 2,476. If you're planning to see one of them, our guide to buying Broadway tickets covers where to look, and our Broadway lottery guide explains how to enter for discounted seats.

The Lion King has been running under Julie Taymor's original staging since 1997, closing in on three decades. Wicked, which opened in 2003, trails Chicago by 2,837 performances, close to what seven years of eight-show weeks adds up to.

Hamilton crossed 4,000 performances in late September 2026, eleven years after opening. It plays the Richard Rodgers Theatre, the same house where the Chicago revival opened in 1996.

The Book of Mormon's September 25 milestone stands out from the rest: passing the original Mamma Mia! run made it Broadway's ninth-longest-running show.

Races to Watch

These are estimates, based on each show keeping its usual eight-performance week with no dark weeks, counted forward from September 27, 2026.

Hadestown is closest: 26 to 31 more performances would put it past both The Producers and Kinky Boots, a gap it could close by mid-to-late October 2026 if it keeps its usual schedule. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child trails Hello, Dolly! by 72 performances, a milestone that lands around late November 2026 at the same pace. Aladdin sits 77 performances behind Jersey Boys, putting early December 2026 in range. Hamilton has the longest wait of the four, needing 87 more to catch Miss Saigon, which points to around mid-December 2026.

Chicago's path to the top spot is a longer one. It would need 2,205 more performances to catch Phantom's 13,981, which works out to roughly five more years at eight shows a week. Five years of eight-show weeks without a closing notice is a lot to ask of any production.

What These Shows Have in Common

A struggling production can find a second life through reinvention. Chicago's original 1975 production closed after 936 performances, a respectable run but nothing close to a record. Twenty-one years later, a concert staging at City Center turned into the revival that has now outlasted every show on Broadway except one.

Family-friendly spectacle keeps drawing audiences back. The Lion King, Wicked, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast all rank among the longest-running shows on Broadway. Three of those four are still running, which points to an audience that renews itself: first-time visitors to New York likely gravitate toward titles they already know, and that steady demand adds up over decades in a way a single loyal fan base rarely can.

Long runs on this scale are a modern phenomenon. The Black Crook, the show most often called the first Broadway musical, set a record in 1866 with 474 performances. The record at the very top rarely moves. Cats held Broadway's long-run title before Phantom passed it, and Phantom has held the record ever since. Chicago is the only show within reach, and even Chicago, already Broadway's second-longest-running production, needs another five years at its current pace to close a gap of more than two thousand performances.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the longest-running Broadway show ever?

The Phantom of the Opera, with 13,981 performances between January 26, 1988, and April 16, 2023, all of them at the Majestic Theatre. No other show has reached that total.

What is the longest-running show currently on Broadway?

Chicago, the 1996 revival, with 11,776 performances since November 14, 1996. It is also the longest-running revival on Playbill's list. For its running time and intermission, see how long Chicago runs on Broadway.

What is the longest-running non-musical play on Broadway?

Life with Father, with 3,224 performances between November 1939 and July 1947, a run that still ranks in Broadway's all-time top 20 nearly eight decades later.